Open thread

Just watched Oprah from last night, or the night before. Nate Berkus. Mmmmmmm... Chat amongst yourselves. Read the rest of this post...

NYT, RIP

The military says they've found three instances of intentional "mishandling" of the Quran. So how does the NYT, the paper that now loves Rick Man-Dog-Sex Santorum, report on it?



In fact, this is what AP had to say about the story:

Hood said the five cases "could be broadly defined as mishandling" of the holy book, but he refused to discuss details.

In three of the five cases, the mishandling appears to have been deliberate. In the other two, it apparently was accidental.

But of course, DOD won't tell us the details of what happened, so we have no way of knowing what they mean by "mishandling." These are the same people who routinely lie about, well, just about everything, including telling us just last week that there were no incidents of anything involving the Quran. And rather than demand that DOD give us the full story, the NYT simply rolls over and exonerates them because that's what good journalists do in the American SSR. Read the rest of this post...

Congress ought to pass a law banning the military from desecrating the Bible, the Quran, or the Torah

Come on, Democrats. The Republicans would crap their pants if you offered this legislation. If they opposed it, they'd be responsible for sending a terrible message to the world - not to mention, I'd love to see them explain to the voters why they refused to vote for the Bible Protection Act. And if they support it, the religious right will crap as they can't stand ANYTHING that even vaguely recognizes Islam as a legitimate religion, thus we'd inflame a greater schism between the Republicans and America's Taliban.

Come on, folks. What would GOPsus do? Read the rest of this post...

Military confirms Quran was intentionally "mishandled" at Gitmo

So Newsweek was basically right. Oh, sure, DOD is saying that they still can't find evidence of a Quran being flushed down a toilet, but they did find that it was intentionally "mishandled" as they say. Funny, but I recall Scott McClellan saying there was NO mishandling of the Quran?

From AP:

"We did identify 13 incidents of alleged mishandling of the Quran by Joint Task Force personnel. Ten of those were by a guard and three by interrogators."

Of the 13 alleged incidents, five were substantiated, he said. Four were by guards and one was by an interrogator. Hood said the five cases "could be broadly defined as mishandling" of the holy book, but he refused to discuss details.

In three of the five cases, the mishandling appears to have been deliberate. In the other two, it apparently was accidental.

Then there's my favorite part of the article:

"None of these five incidents was a result of a failure to follow standard operating procedures in place at the time the incident occurred," Hood said.

Oh, so you mean it was US policy to intentionally mishandle the Quran. Nice. Read the rest of this post...

Breaking from Ohio: $10 - 12 million missing....AG seeking civil and criminal action against Noe

Below is a press release issued this afternoon by the Ohio AG's office. The Attorney General is Jim Petro, who is a Republican (and also running for Governor next year.)

Toledo Blade posted a story too....they have done kick ass work on this scandal.

Wow. This thing is really out of control:

State Of Ohio Pursuing Additional Civil And Criminal Action Against Tom Noe

Noe's Legal Counsel Informs State Assets Are Missing

COLUMBUS- The state of Ohio has announced it is immediately pursuing additional civil and criminal measures against Tom Noe after his legal counsel informed the state that a substantial amount of assets from the Capital Coin Funds are missing.

Mr. Noe's legal counsel advised that $10 to $12 million of Capital Coin's assets are unaccounted for.

"Today's news makes it clear that Tom Noe has irresponsibly mismanaged the monies of the state of Ohio," Governor Bob Taft said. "Such criminal action is outrageous and will not be tolerated. We will pursue all legal avenues possible to recover these funds for injured workers and employers. It is imperative that we do all we can to keep the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) solvent and strong."

Noe has tendered his resignation as manager effective immediately. The Honorable William Bodoh will serve as the interim manager until he appoints a new manager.

The Attorney General's office has announced they will immediately seek:

* Transfer of all assets of Capital Coin Funds I and II to the state of Ohio and relocating the assets in secure, financial institution;
* Transfer of all records of the Capital Coin Funds to the state; and ,
* Additional remedies against Noe, his wife, and additional companies he owns to freeze all personal and business assets.


The Office of Inspector General and the State Highway Patrol are investigating. The Franklin County Prosecutor's office, the Lucas County Prosecutor's office, and the U.S. Attorneys are coordinating efforts regarding potential criminal charges.

BWC fraud investigators are currently conducting reviews at three out-of-state inventory locations. The reviews have been completed in Sarasota, Florida and Evergreen, Colorado and are almost complete in Broomall, Pennsylvania. The assets from Delaware are in transit to Columbus in a secured vehicle.

-30-


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 26, 2005
CONTACT: Kim Norris, Attorney General's Office, at (614) 466-3840, www.ag.state.oh.us ; Jeremy Jackson, BWC, at (614) 752-7558; Mark Rickel, Governor's Office, at (614) 644-0957

Read the rest of this post...

Breaking News: Senate Repubs. can't break delay on Bolton

A loss for Bush and Frist.... for the time being anyway.

Vote was 56-42. Bolton's vote is being delayed because the White House is stonewalling and hiding crucial information the Senate needs to decide whether to confirm Bolton. It's actually rather amazing that the Senate is finally doing its job, kudos.

Dems. I saw vote with the Repubs: Ben Nelson, Landrieu and Pryor. Read the rest of this post...

Hideous anti-gay "gay marriage" ad in Spain

And it reeks, REEKS, of something our little religious right helped them place. I hope Atrios won't mind if I borrow the image and reprint it here.

My favorite part of the ad:

"If this law is approved:
- Adopted children of gay couples will remain vulnerable (in Los Angeles those children need special schools).
- AIDS and other illnesses of homosexual origin will proliferate.
- Gays from the entire world will seek refuge in Spain."

Good to know the anti civil rights bigots are as big of liars and as full of hate as they are here.

Read the rest of this post...

DOD personnel impersonated State Dept employees and attorneys at Gitmo

What did these guys do, read the Soviet manual? Read the rest of this post...

The connection between right-wing GOP CPB head Kenneth Tomlinson and Senator McCarthy

Oh, this is gonna be good. Read the rest of this post...

Day 5: Anti-Muslim slur remains on DOD Web site

Day 5, and counting.

Read the rest of this post...

West Virginia minister fired for writing pro-gay newspaper column

A sample of the truly horrific column the man wrote, from E&P;:

"Gay and lesbian Christians are no different than the rest of us," the Rev. Jeff Falter wrote in a Feb. 26 article. "They deserve full equality in the church and in society, for they are my brothers and sisters, people for whom Christ died."

Oh yeah, stone that man for sure. Everybody knows Christ only died for straight white American men, and rich southern ones at that. Read the rest of this post...

Bush Lives and Speaks in Silos...and gets away with it

Does George Bush ever listen to himself when he speaks. And, does anyone ever challenge him? Yesterday, the NY Times reported,

"I believe that the use of federal monies that end up destroying life is not - is not positive, it's not good," Mr. Bush said.

He's right. But, Bush applies that standard to stem cells and nothing else.

Why can't we apply his words to his other actions? For crying out loud, he said it. Hold him to it. Is is "not positive" and "not good" then to spend billions in federal monies that end up destroying life in Iraq? Is it "not positive" and "not good" to use federal monies to bash gays? Is it "not positive" and "not good" to use federal monies that end up destroying life by not preventing HIV/AIDS through the distribution of condoms?

There's something wrong with the way the media and others allow Bush to compartmentalize his words and his administration. He lives in silos. People should laugh out loud when they hear Bush talk about not using federal monies to destroy life. Instead, they ooh and aah and say what a man of conviction.

He's a lying fraud. Read the rest of this post...

Scott Bloch accused of misleading Congress, ignoring whistleblowers

Gee, and he seemed like such a nice man.

And he has such a - um - soft and, uh, gentle face. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Read the rest of this post...

ACTION ALERT: Barney Frank challenges Bush on anti-gay counsel Scott Bloch

UPDATE: Contact the bigoted Office of Special Counsel and demand they do their jobs and stop their insubordination in violation of a direct order from the president. It's time they publicly stated that they will enforce the executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal workplace, or they should resign. There is no place for rogue religious right activists in our government.

Office of Special Counsel HQ
Tel: (202) 254-3600
Tel: (800) 872-9855

- Scott Bloch, head of the office and chief anti-gay bad guy: sbloch@osc.gov (not 100% sure this email is correct, but try it)

- Catherine Deeds, Director, Congressional and Public Affairs, cdeeds@osc.gov

And if any has any other contact information for Scott or anyone else at his office - phone, cell, email - please pass it along.

Barney Frank issued a statement on the Bloch situation:

“Many of us who disagree with President Bush on a wide range of issues were pleased when he announced that he would adhere to the policy set forward by President Clinton to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workforce,” Frank said.

“In fact, when this policy was challenged after its promulgation by President Clinton in 1998, the House voted by a 252 to 176 majority to affirm it. President Bush’s continuation of this policy marked an important step in establishing a consensus on basic fairness in the United States. What Scott Bloch has done now is to shatter this agreement that employment in the federal workforce should be based solely on merit, and he has also unfortunately raised questions about the sincerity of President Bush’s commitment, since he is a Bush appointee to the position which enforces this."

"It is essential that the President act promptly to do what is necessary to see that the policy he has announced is in fact enforced by his appointee.”

That last line cuts right to the key point:

"It is essential that the President act promptly to do what is necessary to see that the policy he has announced is in fact enforced by his appointee."

President Bush, get your staffer to enforce your policy. Otherwise, fire him. More background on this story here. Read the rest of this post...

New Democratic Club forming in NYC

From my friend Michael Colosi (not to be confused with Michael in NYC) - I'm hoping I didn't post this too late, but either way, contact him about the club if you're interested:

We are pleased to announce the formation of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, a new political force in New York City. Named for the legendary gay activist Jim Owles, our mission is to secure basic human rights, dignity and freedom for all GBLT people through education, organization and political action. We embrace the term liberal wholeheartedly and without apology.

While we are a Democratic club, we are not beholden to any candidate or any party. We believe that all politicians, especially those seeking office as Democrats, should speak out strongly in favor of the GBLT community and that we can no longer support candidates who are willing to compromise our rights for political gain simply because they may be marginally better than the alternatives. We are proud to say that a number of prominent Democrats, activists, celebrities and concerned citizens have already signed on with us.

We are having our first fundraiser this Wednesday, at which New York State Assemblymember and State Democratic Chair Denny Farrell, former Public Advocate and Democratic Mayoral candidate and current candidate for State Attorney General Mark Green, and former State Senator and City Correction and Probation Commissioner Catherine Abate will be speaking. If you live in the greater New York area and are interested in joining us, for more information write to Michael Colosi at mfcolosi@aol.com for updates on future meetings and events.

Read the rest of this post...

We really REALLY [heart] Kraft!

UPDATE: Call Kraft and thank them for doing the right thing: 1-800-323-0768

Ok, everyone, go out and buy some Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, NOW.

The religious right hate groups of America's Taliban have been threatening Kraft for including gays in its pro-diversity outreach. Kraft just told them to fuck off. Well, okay, Kraft wrote a beautiful message about diversity and how a company's true measure is how it responds to criticism of its principles. Amazing letter. And an amazing stand from Kraft. God bless 'em.

Read Kraft's letter, via Kos. An excerpt:

"The true test of any commitment is how you respond when challenged. Kraft is experiencing this to a degree right now, as a result of our decision to be one of several contributors to the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago. The games will bring together thousands of athletes in a competition that will take place in our corporate hometown....

"It can be difficult when we are criticized. It's easy to say you support a concept or a principle when nobody objects. The real test of commitment is how one reacts when there are those who disagree. I hope you share my view that our company has taken the right stand on diversity, including its contribution to the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago."

Read the rest of this post...

Santorum took money from stem cell researchers

Uh oh. They're gonna take away your American Taliban card for that one.

More from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:

Question of the Day for Rick Santorum: Can Stem Cell Research Cure Hypocrisy?

Senator Rick Santorum this week re-emphasized his opposition to stem cell research, stating that he was “disheartened” to learn that the House of Representatives voted to expand stem cell research and that he does “not support taxpayer funding for scientific research that involves the destruction of human embryos.” Yet Santorum had no problem accepting $55,500 in campaign contributions from companies that conduct stem cell research.

“Rick Santorum’s opposition to stem cell research is hypocritical – he staunchly opposes stem cell research and even introduced legislation to severely limit the research, but he has no problem accepting money from the companies that conduct the research,” said DSCC Communications Director Phil Singer. “If Santorum truly opposes stem cell research and isn’t just using the issue to pander to his political base, he should return the over $50,000 in campaign contributions he accepted from the companies that carry out the research.”

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to expand stem cell research, after which time Santorum issued a statement saying that he did not “support taxpayer funding for scientific research that involves the destruction of human embryos or that is based on the prior destruction of human life,” and that he was “pleased to hear” of the President’s pledge to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. In 2003, Santorum also co-sponsored legislation that would have severely restricted stem cell research.

However, in spite of Santorum’s words and actions, since 1998 he accepted a total of $55,500 in campaign contributions from political action committees representing six separate companies that conduct stem cell research, including Becton Dickenson, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, & Pfizer.

SANTORUM HAS CLEARLY STATED HIS OPPOSITION TO STEM CELL RESEARCH: Following the House of Representatives voting to expand stem cell research, Santorum issued a statement saying he was “disheartened” and that he does not “support taxpayer funding for scientific research that involves the destruction of human embryos or that is based on the prior destruction of human life.” Santorum also said he was “pleased to hear that President Bush has vowed to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005.” [Press Release, Office of Sen. Santorum, 5/24/05]

SANTORUM EVEN INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO LIMIT STEM CELL RESEARCH: In January 2003, Santorum co-sponsored legislation that would have imposed severe restrictions on stem cell research. This legislation was applauded by conservatives because it would take more steps in preventing human cloning. Opponents of the bill, including the Christopher Reeve Paralysis foundation, American Diabetes Association and the National Organization for Women believed that the bill goes too far in limiting stem-cell research. [Anchorage Daily News, 5/17/03; S.245, 1/29/03]

YET SANTORUM HAS TAKEN $55,000 IN CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM COMPANIES THAT CARRY OUT STEM CELL RESEARCH: Since 1998, Rick Santorum has accepted a total of $55,500 in campaign contributions from political action committees tied to six separate companies that conduct stem cell research. The six companies are: Becton Dickenson, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, & Pfizer. [www.crp.org; Biotechnology Industry Organization; Wall Street Journal, 4/12/05; Bioworld Today, 10/14/04]

Read the rest of this post...

Spokane Mayor West accused of sodomizing 6th grade boy

Fork him.

West has denied allegations that he molested boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s, calling the claims "flat lies." West said he had "no clue" Hahn was molesting boys.

West has acknowledged, however, having recent sexual relationships with young men he met in an online chat room.

In the court documents released Wednesday, Galliher said he was between 8 and 12 years old when he was introduced to West by Hahn. As a boy, he claimed, he was given alcohol and small amounts of marijuana when he was sexually molested by the two men.....

During the deposition, Galliher was asked to describe being introduced to West.

"He molested me on that occasion," Galliher said of West.

"What did he do?" Lackie asked.

"Just fondling. Making me fondle him," Galliher said during the deposition, adding: "He stuck his penis in my mouth."

At another time, while riding his bicycle in Spokane Valley, Galliher said he was stopped by West, who was on duty as a deputy, driving a marked patrol car.

"What happened, if anything?" Lackie asked.

"Pretty much the same thing that happened up at Dave's apartment," Galliher responded, "but it was in the back of the car."

On another occasion, while hanging out with other youngsters near East Bowl, Galliher said, he was again picked up and sodomized by West, who was on duty. According to the documents, Galliher said he was verbally threatened and intimidated into believing his mother or brother would be arrested if he talked about the abuse.

"He'd arrest your mother or brother - for what?" Lackie asked.

"I don't know," Galliher responded. "Back then, it really didn't matter to me. I didn't - for whatever. He was a cop. He could probably arrest them for whatever he wanted to."

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Sup? Read the rest of this post...

Ohio GOP Rare Coin Scandal expands -- it includes "collectibles"

Okay, another day, another bizarre development in the Ohio GOP coin-gate scandal. When this thing first started, there was widespread criticism about the risky nature of investing public dollars in rare coins. It's worse. Coins are probably safer than some of what the state now owns.

Today's news is that notorious GOP fundraiser Toe Noe was using the state's money for more than rare coins. He was investing in other "collectibles" -- a term which is yet to be fully defined. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has this story:

Auditors were stunned Wednesday to discover that money from the state's $55.4 million rare-coin investment has been spent on "an enormous inventory" of collectibles, such as autographs or other valuable papers.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, which engineered the investment, also discovered a note re cording a $530,000 loan to an unknown person that used col lectibles as collateral.

So, as it stands, the State of Ohio can't even check it's $50 million dollar investment...and it turns out, the state owns more than the rare coins....it's other collectibles. Noe won't allow them in his buildings to start the inventory:

For the third straight day, bureau auditors were prevented from examining the state's largest cache of rare coins in Maumee, being held by Tom Noe, a major Republican fund-raiser who is the subject of investigations by six state and federal agencies over allegations of influence peddling and campaign contributions.

Since this story broke, the posts on Americablog have often joked about what they could invest in next: baseball cards? beanie babies? Looks like you were all on to something. Ohio doesn't even know now what it is that they own, except it's a lot of "collectibles:"

"The investments included non-coin collectibles, things like valuable letters and papers," [Noe's Attorney William] Wilkinson said. "These are assets of the coin funds. There is an enormous inventory of non-coin collectibles." Wilkinson was unable to provide details.

This is a glaring example of how the GOP can't be trusted with public money. When this scandal first broke in April, every major GOP figure leapt to the defense of Tom Noe. Now, they have all been forced to investigate him.

I took a look back at what Secretary of State/Bush Chair/GOP gubernatorial candidate said in the April 6 2005 The Toledo Blade which reported that Blackwell had no problem with this action:

Mr. Blackwell said his position hasn't changed, but he said he would not criticize the bureau's investment in rare coin funds.

"I would never have any reason to question Jim Conrad's integrity. When you run a fund size of $18 billion and you're looking at $50 million, 'Beyond what one's disposition might be, is that an irresponsible amount of risk?' Most people would say no," he said.

And we let Ohio pick our president. Read the rest of this post...

Yes or No votes coming in France and Netherlands for EU Constitution

A few weeks ago I was sure that France would vote against the EU Constitution but now I'm thinking it's going to win. Even those on the left who don't like it have various reasons for voting "oui" which include getting on board now before the eastern European countries bring in (conservative) religion and just this past weekend the latest I heard was that they want a "yes" so that the UK can vote "no" and Europe will blame the UK for it failing instead of France. (This isn't France for nothing after all.) If there's one thing that the people in France love to do, it's debate and argue so right now this vote is making livelier than ever discussions in a never-ending, debate loving society.

This Sunday France votes and just three days later, the Netherlands votes. Somehow I just don't see all of the countries voting in favor of the new Constitution but it's hard to say who the spoiler is going to be. I must say, I will be surprised if the UK eventually goes ahead with the vote and then approves the Constitution but who knows? Read the rest of this post...

Why does Mugabe hate poor, black people in Zimbabwe?

Anyone who thinks that the problems in Zimbabwe are a black versus white issue are either fools or they're blinded by their own racism. We are talking about a dictator who is more consumed with power than with helping his own people. After urban black voters supported opposition candidate (who is also black) Morgan Tsvangirai in the recent elections, Mugabe is now punishing those voters and taking away their only available means of work to put buy or trade for food.

The former breadbasket of Africa is now in such a desperate situation after Mugabe's botched attempt at land reform which passed land to friends instead of black farmers that they will soon be accepting UN food relief. The majority of the 5 million starving people in Zimbabwe are not white but black so why does Mugabe hate the people of Zimbabwe so much? Read the rest of this post...